What the hell is this place?!

In reality, Bai Ke, after entering the mountain gate, was not as relaxed as Lin Jie had seen outside the gate.

The environment behind the mountain gate was different from what was visible outside—there were abrupt, towering cliff walls on both sides, creating a narrow passage that seemed to lead to the sky.

Bai Ke felt that this place seemed a bit darker than outside. The outlines of the cliff walls were very blurred, and the path beneath his feet was vaguely visible as a series of stone blocks, with some raised areas and slippery spots. The moss here was much thicker than in the alley Bai Ke usually walked.

To avoid falling, Bai Ke held the smooth, luminous night pearl in his left hand and used his right hand to steady himself against the cliff wall, carefully making his way forward. However, he felt a strange unease, sensing that something wasn’t quite right.

Dense fog rolled in, covering Bai Ke's face with a thin layer of moisture.

Under normal circumstances, such a mist in such a pristine mountain would be fresh, but Bai Ke couldn’t smell any hint of grass or trees. Instead, the mist had a faint fishy odor.

“Fishy smell?” Bai Ke wondered to himself, and with his prejudice against Hengtian gate, he thought the Sanqing Pool was rather strange. Indeed, the head of Hengtian did not have good intentions.

Even though he knew he wasn’t dealing with someone who meant well, Bai Ke still had to follow the plan.

On one hand, he had the Seven Star Charm in his body. Although he wasn’t entirely clear about the specific effects of the pill, it was undoubtedly important to the head of Hengtian. Bai Ke didn’t believe that the head was fixated only on the arrogant but foolish Qin He. There must be some hidden means to prevent Bai Ke from deviating from Hengtian  Gate’s control. Therefore, until the Seven Star Charm was extracted, even with Junxiao's assistance, he didn’t want to make too many secretive moves.

On the other hand, although he was unsure of the truth, he still wanted to see if the Sanqing Pool would really have an effect on his eyes. However, he had a vague sense that his condition might not be something that could be easily cured by ordinary methods. Otherwise, with Junxiao’s knowledge and abilities, he wouldn’t have remained silent about his blindness.

No matter how composed and mature he appeared, at his core, he still had a youthful nature. In the face of such issues, he was ultimately unable to remain indifferent, feeling both sadness and joy.

As he pondered these things while groping forward, he suddenly realized that his right hand was empty—the cliff wall he had been holding onto had come to an end without him noticing.

Bai Ke stood there in a daze, realizing that the increasingly dim outlines of the cliff walls were now completely out of sight.

In that moment of confusion, he suddenly remembered what had felt strange earlier—

To others, he was a genuine blind person. So why would he need something like a night pearl for illumination? Yet, the head had asked Qin He to bring him this item!

His first reaction was that the head had noticed something unusual about his eyes, which made him tense up. But the next second, he recalled how the head had spoken in front of them and behind their backs, and it didn’t seem like he had discovered anything.

That perhaps pointed to another possibility—

Even a blind person might need this so-called night pearl in the Sanqing Pool.

The next moment, the scene he saw confirmed his thoughts.

He silently looked around in all directions and finally confirmed that, apart from the small patch of ground illuminated by the night pearl in his left hand, he couldn’t see anything else.

It was as if he was surrounded by a dense black mist, obscuring the path he had taken, the surrounding cliffs and rocks, and even the damp, fishy smell lingering in his nose, leaving only the night pearl.

Considering his earlier guess, it might not just be blind people who needed this pearl to see in the Sanqing Pool.

At this point, he didn’t believe the pearl was truly a night pearl. It was probably another kind of peculiar object engraved with a charm.

In this environment, he had a strange feeling, as if everything he saw with the pearl was not truly seen but felt with his mind or consciousness. It was like a saying he had heard before—seeing with the mind’s eye. (NT: Chinese idiom(心眼儿), refers to one's ability to see or understand beyond what is literal or obvious)

He seemed to be cut off from his five senses, with only his spirit remaining.

When Bai Ke realized his anxiety, restlessness, and tension were clearly beyond normal and growing in an atypical way, he had a faint feeling that here, his thoughts and feelings were magnified, surpassing all other existence.

If a normal person arrived here and suddenly lost all their senses, perhaps just the fear and panic alone could lead to an infinite vicious cycle, eventually causing them to go mad, collapse, or even lose consciousness before reaching the Sanqing Pool.

But because of his inherent issues, Bai Ke adapted much faster than ordinary people. He calmed down almost immediately, decided not to think about anything further, and continued walking forward with the luminous pearl in his left hand, accepting the situation with a sense of resignation.

He had to admit, his level of composure was quite remarkable.

After the cliff wall ended, the terrain under his feet gradually rose, forming a gentle slope. This perfectly blocked the area the pearl could illuminate at the top of the slope.

Bai Ke walked slowly up the slope to the summit.

Even though he was mentally prepared for various strange sights, he was still stunned by what he saw in front of him.

He had originally thought that the Sanqing Pool was a lake or swamp with rich spiritual energy, potentially guarded by restrictions and possessing unique properties. At the very least, a pool would have water.

But what lay before him was a massive object emitting a warm, glowing light—it was solid!

If it had to be compared to a pool, it would be its general round shape, a large piece embedded in the darkness, resembling a deep blue lake.

Bai Ke hesitated for a moment before stepping toward the huge, luminous object, which looked like a cross between jade and ice. As he got closer, the glow became whiter, and when he stood right in front of it, the light had turned pure white.

He looked down at the pearl in his left hand, which seemed to merge with the object in front of him. It was evidently a polished fragment taken from this very object.

The small piece in his hand didn’t feel much, but standing before the massive, complete entity, he felt a bone-chilling cold.

‘So, this is ice?’ Bai Ke instinctively thought.

But he immediately dismissed this simple and foolish idea.

He had already realized that his five senses were lost, leaving only his mind. So, the chill he felt might not be a physical sensation but rather an amplified psychological effect.

But what psychological state could make someone feel cold?

Fear? Terror?

Bai Ke considered himself fairly composed at the moment and didn't think he was affected by amplified fear or terror to the point of feeling such intense cold.

So what could it be?

After pondering without finding an answer, he decided not to delve further into the issue. He reached out and brushed the thin, smoke-like mist emanating from the icy-looking object. Aside from the same bone-chilling cold, he did not discover any new issues.

After a moment of hesitation, he made up his mind and stepped firmly onto the massive "ice" piece.

The moment Bai Ke’s feet touched the "ice crystal," a bone-chilling cold instantly surged into his leg meridians, turning his face pale with frost. The sensation was like suddenly swallowing a block of ice, the coldness lodged in his chest, making it hard to breathe, and causing a sharp pain at the tip of his heart.

He felt as if something, along with the relentless encroaching cold, was rushing into his meridians. At the same time, a sudden sharp pain struck his forehead, and his temples began to throb as if resonating with the invading forces in his meridians.

Bai Ke thought, ‘This is bad!’

But by then, it was too late to withdraw. His feet seemed glued to the ice crystal; he couldn’t move at all, let alone escape.

The cold beneath his feet made his heart contract, and the pain above his head was like being pierced with needles—searing, as if his skin were being torn and his skull sliced open.

Having been tricked twice in a single day, he felt a rare and intense urge to curse: What the hell is this place?!

In no time, he was wrecked with pain, his body convulsing, his lips bleeding from biting them so hard, and he was curled up on the ice crystal.

Just when he felt like he was being torn apart by two opposing forces, he suddenly felt something warm covering his forehead. Instantly, the coldness surrounding him withdrew like a receding tide, and the intense pain in his forehead subsided sharply. The buzzing in his ears from the pain came to a halt.

As he lay there, nearly collapsed on the "ice crystal," even before he could catch his breath, a piercing, desperate scream broke the silence, coming to his ears: "Help!"

 

Translator : DarNan